Advanced-economy governments routinely proclaim their commitment to the principle that businesses have a duty to prevent human-rights abuses, but they have done little to hold corporations accountable. Supporting a new UN treaty would go a long way toward restoring these countries’ credibility.
GENEVA – At the end of October, an intergovernmental working group will meet again to push for an international treaty governing multinational companies’ responsibility for upholding human rights. The working group, created in 2014 by the UN Human Rights Council, holds annual sessions that are attended faithfully by a large cohort of human-rights advocates, environmentalists, and members of social-development organizations. But, while many countries, mostly from the Global South plus China, send representatives to the meetings, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan ignore them, while the EU sends a token delegation and makes no substantive contribution to negotiations. That needs to change.
GENEVA – At the end of October, an intergovernmental working group will meet again to push for an international treaty governing multinational companies’ responsibility for upholding human rights. The working group, created in 2014 by the UN Human Rights Council, holds annual sessions that are attended faithfully by a large cohort of human-rights advocates, environmentalists, and members of social-development organizations. But, while many countries, mostly from the Global South plus China, send representatives to the meetings, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan ignore them, while the EU sends a token delegation and makes no substantive contribution to negotiations. That needs to change.